Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 209 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

18 Buck Farley, the Bonanza Prince. a eS Oe Although not a good figure on the ground, | and a poor runner, Benito was at home on horseback. He knew that he could trust his horse, and he hoped to get such a lead as would enable him to reach the stage and turn it back in time to prevent it from being overtaken by Rosalba’s party. As it was not expected at his starting point until midnight, there seemed to be good ground for this hope. But the Bonanza Prince was in a hurry to get back to Death Gulch, and he had promised the driver good pay for fast time. Consequently the stage was several miles fur- ther from Bluffton than it usually was at that hour of the night. As Benito was thundering along the road at a headlong gallop, increasing his distance from his pursuers, he thought that he heard the rum- bling of approaching wheels. He spurred his horse, and pushed forward until he reacbed the top of a bill, from which point he could plainly see the lights of the stage as it toiled up the long slope. Glancing backward, he saw nothing of Ro- salba’s party, though he could faintly hear the rapid footfalls of their horses in the distance. Again striking spurs into his horse, he dashed down the hill at full speed, waving his arms as he neared the stage, and calling to the driver to stop. the driver halted just before Benito reached the stage. He was not to be ee by one man; but it was well to stop and see what was the matter, “Ts Mr. Farley in the stage?” asked Benito, almost breathlessly, as he pulled up his panting and perspiring horse, “Yes, What’s up?’ ‘Turn back at once, then, and drive to Bluff- ton as fast as you can!” Buck Farley and the two other passengers thrust their heads out of the nb “Ts that you, Benito?’ asked the Bonanza Prince, recognizing the voice of the excited youth. ‘‘ What's the matter?’ ‘You must turn back, sir. Pedro Rosalba and a dozen men have plotted to waylay the stage and capture you, They stopped me, but I escaped from them, and they are pursuing me, close on my heels.” “All right,” said Farley. ‘Turn back, driver! e will have to run forit. Hurry on to Bluffton, Benito! Why, lad, are you hurt?” He saw blood on Benito’s hand and clothes. ‘* Nothing to worry me, sir. Justa graze.” ‘‘Ride on to Bluffton, then, and make the best time youcan, Tell the people to turn out and meet us.” By this time the stage had been turned around and it went clattering down the hill, Benito spurring bis horse in advance. Before it reached the bottom of the hill, the pursuers were at the top, where they halted for a moment. f They plainly saw the stage as it was pushing toward Bluffton, and caught sight of Benito as he spurred away in the distance, The scene added to their fury and increased the eagerness of their pursuit. $ “This is better than I had hoped for,” said Pedro Rosalba. ‘It is many miles to Bluffton, Mr. Buck Farley! Push on, boys! and we will soon catch that cursed stage.” The chances were largely in their favor. The stage had a light load and four horses; but the driver had been making fast time, and the speed with which they had traveled had told upon his horses. Rosalba’s men had also been making fast time, and their horses were more or less wor- ried; but they were not in harness, and had no load to drag. Oue party was animated by the desire to es- cape, and the other by eagerness to capture, and so the flight and pursuit went on, Buck Farley’s stage companions were two young and activemen. One was Sam Jennings, a sporting man well know in that region, and the other introduced bimself as Mr. Ross, a speculator from Denver. Both were well armed and expressed their willingness to make the best fight they could for their pockets and their persons. The driver carried a breech-loading rifle under his seat, and Farley had two long- range revolvers, on which be prided himself. ‘It will come to a fight, gentlemen, unless we surrender,” said the Bonanza Prince. ‘‘We are sure to be overtaken before we can get back to Bluffton. I have reason to believe that those scoundrels are after me, and | doubt if they would molest either of you. Idon’t want you to put yourselves in danger for my sake.” “Don’t you mean to fight?’ asked Jennings. ‘Of course I will. There is nothing else for me to do.” ** Then I will stand by you, for one.” ** And I, for another,” said Ross. ‘Well, gentlemen, we had better prepare to give them the best we have in the shop, and In the first place we must make an opeuing in the back part of this hearse, so that wecan get a fair sight at them.” A hole wus out in the back of the stage, and the passengers, looking rearward, could plainly gec their pursuers speeding after them, except when an abrupt turn of the road cut off the view, en SO A stern chase is a long chase at sea, but it is not necessarily so on lund. It depends upon the speed and endurance of the ckaser and the chased. In this case the chased had the worst of it, and were gradually but surely overhauled by their pursuers, until the latter were near enough to open fire with their rifles. To this fire the passengers replied in a similar manner; but the jolting and rocking of the stage prevented their aim from being anything like accurate, and their shots were wild, But the shots of the men on horseback were almost equally uncertain. So the chase continued; but the pursuers were gradually lessening their cistance from the stage, and an occasional bullet struck the vebicle. The driver, crouching forward on his seat, lashed the horses, and encouraged them with his voice, and they flew over the rocky road at the top of their speed, like a runaway team, the stage rattling and rocking after them, swaying from side to side, and now and then running dangerously on two wheels as it whirled around a bend. ore than once it might have upset, if the passengers, appreciating their peril, had not thrown their weight upon the uppermost side, lke ‘“‘live ballast to wind- ward.” This could not last forever. Skillful driving was needed, in daylight and at a moderate speed, to pilot the stage over that rough road, and in the darkness, at a breakneck gait, the peril was greatly increased. There was danger at every moment that the vebicle would sink into a rut, or strike a bowlder, that would upset or break it, or that the overpressed horses would drop in their barness. The latter contingency was what occurred. ‘*Can’t hold out much longer, Mr. Farley!” shouted the driver. ‘‘The hosses is clean blowed, and the nigh wheeler’s e’ena’most ready to drop.” This announcement was what the Bonanza ae Fe had been expecting, and he was ready or it. “Can you reach Frenchman’s Gap?’ he asked, ‘*T reckon we kin fetch that, sir.” “Better go a little easier then, and make a sure thing of it. Haulup when you come to the narrowest part of the canyon.” The driver ceused to lash his horses, and the passengers doubled the shots from their ‘‘ stern chasers,” while the horsemen reserved their fire, yelling as they saw how rapidly they were gaining upon their querry. A shot from the stage struck one of the fore- most riders, and this delayed the pursuit for a few precious minutes. ‘‘Half a mile further!” exclaimed Farley, who knew the route well. ‘“« Will we be safe then?’ asked Mr. Ross. ‘*No; but we will have a chance to make a square fight.” Half a mile further the wearied horses hauled the jolting stage, and the high walls of French- man’s Gap closed in 5 ‘them, while their antagonists, who had slightly breathed their horses, pressed forward with fresh speed. Just at the narrowest of the canyon, the point which Farley had desired to reach, the nigh wheeler dropped, and the stage came to a sudden stop. The driver jumped down from his seat, and cut the traces, sure that the tired animals would not go far. In a few minutes the stage, nearly wrecked, was drawn across the road to serve as a barri- cade, and the driver and his passengers bestirred themselves in adding to the advantages of their tion. They had i ie snag but little in this direc- tion, wken their foes came galloping into the canyon, CHAPTER XXIV. A BLOW THAT MISSED. “THIS seems to be a aoe of three to one, or thereabout,” said Buck Farley, as he looked down the Gap. ‘“Itis a very pretty chance for a scrimmage, as it stands.” It was fortunate for the stage prone that the horses had held out as long as they did. They were still at a considerable distance from Bluff- ton, but had reached a position that gave them a fair chance to make a good fight. The etage was a passable barricade, and they improved every woment that was spared to them in pilin stones in front of them and digging a trenc across the road. Their enemies were obliged to advance right iu front of them, as the steep sides of the canyon left no chance fora flank movement. Business began at once, but a little more cau- tiously than Farley and his companions might have expected. Rosalba’s men dismounted, and moved for- ward slowly under the darkness, as if careful of their precious skins. Then one of them raised his voice from behind a bowlder, and hailed: ** Hello, you folks!” ** Hello, horse-thief!” replied the clear tenor of Sam Jennings. ** You had better be a bit polite, whoever you are. We want to give youachance. The man we’re arter is Buck Farley, and he knows it, Give him up, you other folks, and you may slide off without bein’ touched.” ‘** You may slide off on your ear,” replied Jen- nings. ‘‘lf you want anybody here, come right along and take him!” There was a rush in answer to this bold chal- lenge, followed by a volley of bullets that struck the stage and rattled among the rocks, Mose Akers, the driver, bad joined the other com- batants, and Buck Farley, with his two splen- did revolvers, good for a hundred yards, was quite equal to three men. Sam Jennings was a good shot and a cool hand, and Mose Akers declared that the Denver speculator was ‘no slouch,” The fire from the stage was so hot and heavy that the rush was soon stopped, and the raiders fell back. They had succeeded in locating the position they were to attack, and some of their shots had struck uncomfortably near the men for whom they were intended, as was proved by more than one graze, There was a brief lul] in the engagement, and Farley and his friends used every minute of rest in improving their defenses. Then the man who had hailed them before lifted up his voice again, and repeated the offer he bad made: ‘* We've got the dead wood on you folks,” he said, ‘‘and can afford to be lib’ral. If you try to hold out ag’inst us, it’s sure death.” ‘‘Go and put your head in a bag,” contemptu- ously replied Jennings. ‘‘ We hold four aces, and can sweep the board,” The Bonanza Prince spoke, and his voice sounded far down the gap. ‘*Tell Pedro Rosalba from me that he is run- tk his head into a noose a little too fast. He ought not to hurry up the business. His time will come soon enough.” Two shots in rapid succession showed that this little speech had touched Rosalba and Manuel ‘‘ on the raw.” Their men, not so hasty, began to try a differ- ent style of tactics, advancing along the sides of the canyon, taking cover wherever they could find it, and firing occasionally and carefully. ‘‘ They are trying to creep up on us, so that they can make a sure thing of the next rush,” said Farley. ‘‘ We must fire at every flash, and keep our tools full of cartridges.” The four men at the stage worked hard, firing rapidly and constantly; but they did not seri- ously impede the slow but sure progress of those who were creeping up to them. After a while Rosalba’s men ceased firing al- together, and there were no longer any flashes to betray their whereabouts, or to show how far they had advanced. The sky had clouded up, and the darkness in the canyon had become deeper. But the assailants had lost much precious time, and it was barely possible that aid might come from Bluffton, unless they should strike quick and hard. ‘‘ It is going to be close work now,” said Far- ley, after he had looked in vain for somethin to aim at. ‘See that your pistols are we charged, and have them handy.” The words were scarcely out of his lips when there came a terrible blinding and deafening volley, from both sides of the gap, poured right into the wrecked stage. The effect was deadly. Sam Jennings was shot through the head, and the stage-driver was badly wounded, Desperately the Denver speculator seized Jennings’s revolver, and stood up with Buck Farley to meet their foes, who howled as they rushed forward. ‘‘Tt is all up with us now,” said Ross. ‘‘Perhaps not,” replied Farley, ‘I think I hear a noise up the gap. At that moment nothing could be heard but the rapid exchange of pistol-shots, as the two remaining passengers breasted the rush, and man after man went down before their fire. But Ross was shot through the arm, and the furious raiders were closing in on the one man who was left, when there was a rush of clatter- ing hoofs, and the men from Bluffton came gal- loping down. the gap. he surviving assailants turned and fled to their horses, which they reached and mounted before the new arrivals could force their way through or over the barricade. Pursuit was made; but there was no chance for the tired horses of the Bluffton men to over- take the fugitives. Buck Farley then learned that Benito’s horse had dropped dead in front of the Bluffton hotel, where a public meeting was in progress, and that he had just been able to deliver his mes- sage before he fainted. The best men on the best horses started immediately, and made the fastest poe time to the scene of conflict. The Bonanza Prince rode back to Bluffton, whither the body of Sam Jennings and his two wounded companions were carried. en he om over that route again he was accompanied by Benito, and attended by « sufficient escort to prevent the possibility of a successful attack. On reaching Death Gulch they went at once Gomi Ebooksne (0)